


the fall of an empire

by technotraitor



Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Antartic Empire, Family, Sleepy Bois Inc Angst, Sleepy Bois Inc as Family
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-12
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-12 03:01:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,753
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29378184
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/technotraitor/pseuds/technotraitor
Summary: phil made many mistakes that day. one too many. now he has to deal with the consequences, locked in a cell, while wilbur and tommy try to survive together, and techno's fighting skills are used for entertainment. with wilbur and tommy afraid and alone, but techno and phil in captivity, the youngest two of the family have to work together to find and save the rest of their family.
Relationships: Phil Watson (Video Blogging RPF) & Technoblade, Wilbur Soot & Technoblade, Wilbur Soot & Technoblade & TommyInnit & Phil Watson, Wilbur Soot & TommyInnit
Comments: 3
Kudos: 63





	1. phil's mistakes

**Author's Note:**

> this idea came to me very suddenly, so there's a high chance it will be very scuffed. it is also very angsty, with a lot of violence. yea lol.  
> warnings for - blood, violence, being taken hostage.

phil had made multiple mistakes that day. it was supposed to be a calm day, a day to spend time with his sons, but yet he sat there, in a cell, with his family nowhere to be seen. the chains holding him to the wall made him feel like an animal, wings pinned to the wall for display. and he had no idea where his sons were, if they were safe, or even alive. he had made many mistakes that day, all leading up to being in this situation.

his first mistake was cancelling the training session with wilbur and techno in the morning. he had no idea it was going to be their last for a while, so cancelled it when a meeting became urgent. phil didn’t pay attention to the hurt looks on their faces, as he passed all three of his sons their breakfast, before claiming he was too busy to eat with them.

maybe he should have been more observant or more empathetic. maybe he would have seen how wilbur had slumped in his chair, pushing his food around the plate, and the way techno muttered to him, trying to cheer him up. but he was too stuck in his own head, wondering what this sudden meeting was about. apparently it was crucial he be there on time, missing it would put a dent on any future plans. what plans? phil had zero idea, but he’d decided to turn up anyway. he had stumbled out of the private dining room, tugging on his cloak to hide the wings as he did so.

that had been his second mistake. he wasn’t quick enough pulling on the green cloak, not expecting the visitors to be stood in the main hall just down the steps. his footsteps got their attention, and he was quick to finish pulling on the cloak. not quick enough. he was too busy greeting the line of visitors to see the two in the back exchange looks, nodding. he didn’t notice the point towards the private upstairs of the castle. 

maybe that was his third mistake, leaving his sons alone. they were only young, and he should have known better to leave them alone with strangers in the castle. techno was the best fighter phil had ever come across, but he didn’t know how he would cope going up against two men many years older than him. a nineteen year old against two twenty five year olds seems unfair, especially when he was trying to protect his little brothers. but that didn’t cross phil’s mind as he led them towards the meeting room.

nothing else but getting this meeting done so he could see his sons was on his mind. 

his fourth mistake was allowing he men to leave the meeting to use the restroom. he didn’t know people would be using his kindness as a weapon. his sons always told him that his kindness was deadly, was dangerous, but he always laughed off their fears. maybe he would have listened. he definitely should have been paying more attention that day. because he didn’t see the man nodding to his friend, their hands meeting as a weapon was slid into his.

you could say his overall mistake was not paying attention. that he should have been more awake, and more focused on his surroundings. or you could say it was going to the meeting in the first place. because ‘if he had said no, he would not have made any mistakes that day’. but phil didn’t have the heart to say no to someone.

his fifth came when it was worst. the meeting had come to an end, the man not yet having returned from the restroom. but his friend had stood, standing by the door, blocking everyone from leaving. he had pulled out a sword, one phil swore as his own, holding it to a woman’s neck as he held her to his body. 

his fifth mistake was not doing enough to protect his sons.

“what do you want?” phil knew better than to think this was a classic burglary. this man had sat through a two hour meeting. he wanted more than money. the man didn’t need to respond. phil’s response came from the main hall. it was a scream, from his son, wilbur, begging for him to help. “what do you want?” his question was more urgent, more fearful. he didn’t feel confident anymore,

the man blinked, almost like he was bored. “we want hybrids, and your family just happens to be full of them.” he didn;t flinch when there was a different scream. that one was tommy. “we could get a lot of cash from your heads. the rulers of the antarctic empire, all hybrids.”

phil didn’t move. “let them go.” was all he managed to say, the scream of his children rattling his brain. they felt like stabs. every time he heard them sob out the word ‘dad’ he felt himself becoming more and more powerless. “please, they’re kids, let them go.” he was begging. the king, the ruler, of the antarctic empire, was begging for his sons’ safety. he had never felt more weak.

his final mistake made him sick, looking back at it. his final mistake was believing their enemies. he was holding his sons close, his wings wrapped around them like a protective bubble. techno was covered in bruises and cuts, he had gone down protecting wilbur and tommy. he had tried his best, he told phil, he had really tried, but the man was so much older and taller, that he couldn’t save them. phil had only pulled him into his chest as a response.

the others that had attended the meeting had been tied up, chucked in the corner and forced to watch. bodies of the empires soldiers scattered the floor. maybe that was a past mistake, not training the soldiers enough.

wilbur was crying softly, latching onto his father’s sleeve. wilbur, the eighteen year old, have severely lost his composure as soon as the men barged into his bedroom. he had screamed, kicked, thrown things, just like his dad had taught him, but it didn’t do enough. he had been tied at the wrists, thrown into techno’s bedroom, where tommy had under gone the same fate, and techno was on the floor, bleeding from various cuts. they all wished they would have fought harder.

now, wilbur was saying his goodbyes, hugging his sons as they cried and begged him not to leave. but the offer was too much. phil would rather himself than his children. so he hugged them goodbye, told them he loved them a final time, then allowed himself to be grabbed and bound. he didn’t say much as he was transported to the van outside the castle. 

the men had no reaction to the soldiers outside, waiting to attack and protect the royal family. phil had blinked, and they were on the ground. he knew not to question.

“alright, grab the kids! we’ll get a ton of them.” the man holding him had yelled back to his friend, as he threw open the door to the van. 

it took a single second for phil to realise. when he did, he started fighting. screaming about how they promised. his ears rang as techno was grabbed, and he had to watch as techno fought and screamed, trying to escape the grip. phil had never seen him that weak. he didn’t see anything lse as the door to the van was closed on his face. but he heard. he heard as they screamed for phil, sobbed and begged for help. and he couldn’t do anything.

their screams got quieter as the van he was in drove away.

now he was here, in a grimy cell, clothes ripped, covered in blood from when he fought back. nothing had helped him. the cell was a drastic change from the castle he was used to. phil flinched when the cell door slammed against the concrete wall. instinctively, he went to bring his wings around himself, stopping when he remembered the pins holding them to the wall. before the man who entered had even spoken, phil blurted out, “are my sons okay? i don’t care what you do to me, are they okay?”

“we only have one in, the only two ran.” the man revealed the bite and scratch marks on his arm. phil smiled proudly. “fucking gremlin bit me and grabbed his brother.” he closed the door as he entered, pulling down the sleeve of his jacket once more. “now, we have people coming in, to see if they want your wings, you better fucking behave.”

“i’m not a fucking animal.” he spat in response, a dark look in his eyes as he glared up at the man who had torn his family apart. “i’m going to get out of here, and when i do, i’m going to kill you.”

in response, the man laughed. in his hand, he held a knife, one that phil just knew had been stolen from the castle. he knew because of the name carved into the handle. it was wilbur’s. techno had gotten it for him two years go. wilbur had carved his name into the golden handle with a pair of scissors, only cutting his hand open a little bit. wilbur carried it with him everywhere, evn in the castle. it made phil seethe in anger to know someone else had it.

there was a chuckle from phil and he nodded slowly. “laugh now, but when i get out of here, you’re going to regret hurting my family.” he glowered at the man opposite him, who had now begun to fidget, uncomfortable under the king’s glare. 

though, he still challenged the hybrid. “how so?”

“well, telling you would ruin the whole thing,” there was a thick silence, “but you should be so afraid.”


	2. wilbur and tommy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> wilbur and tommy manage to escape, running away from their empire, which was burning to the ground around them. but they were alone, and they didn't know how to protect themselves. they needed protection. wilbur needed his family. and he would do anything to find out where his family was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello i am back with another chapter! this one was slightly rushed because tales from the smp is in an hour but i really wanted to get a chapter out together. nevertheless, i still love how it turned out!
> 
> WARNINGS FOR blood, violence, slight starvation, and fire !

unlike his father, wilbur had only made one mistake that day. and that was not grabbing his older brother when he made his escape. as he watched techno screaming and fighting, anger bubbled in the pit of his stomach, and when tommy joined him, being shoved into a seperate van, wilbur felt like he could murder everyone around him. 

his fight against the men wasn’t what he was expecting, nor what they were expecting, they were expecting him to be like his brothers, to scream and kick and squirm but not deal any actual damage. they didn’t expect him to bite down on the arm holding him until he tore through multiple layers of skin. it was what his dad had taught them to do when they were younger. even gone, his dad was still protecting them. the metallic taste of blood was what drove him forward. he spat out the blood coated on his tongue, making his run to the van tommy was in. 

he scrambled for the handle with blood covered hands, tugging it open in desperation. whoever he just bit was yelling furiously, and wilbur did not like the sound of the venom and anger in his voice. wilbur reached forward to his brother, pulling the fifteen year old to him by the wrist. he didn’t flinch when tommy yelled, almost landing on his knees when he was pulled out of the van. the elder pulled tommy up, holding him close to him as they backed up, away from the vans.

multiple more of the men had pulled up in vans, holding weapons. they were inching closer to the two teens. it didn’t look like they would have mercy for them, either.

“techno?!” wilbur's voice was hoarse as he screamed for his older brother, eyes filled with tears. he was terrified. the van his dad was in had driven off. they’d taken his dad. and now they were about to take his older brother. “techno, please, get out of there!”

a faint voice screamed back to him. “leave!” he could recognise it as techno. “i’ll be fine! you two have to leave! find dad!” when techno heard no movement, he screamed louder, begging them to just leave him there, and that he was strong enough to look after himself. all techno wanted for his little brothers to be safe. he had promised himself the first time he held wilbur, that he would not let this kid get a single scratch on his body. and he promised himself the first time he held tommy, that he would protect both of those kids until his last breath. that’s what he was planning to do.

it took wilbur one second, but he grabbed tommy’s wrist. and he ran.

he didn’t know where he was running, but he was running. it was a cold morning, and the thin fabric of his clothes did nothing to warm him. the only thing that motivated him to keep going was the footsteps behind him, and his little brother who had grabbed his hand and began to run with him. wilbur kept running through the empty streets, until he reached the border of the town. he wanted to stop, but he couldn’t. no one was chasing them anymore, but they couldn’t stop now. not yet.

“wil,” tommy heaved, holding his hand tightly, “we have to go back.”

the elder boy fought his tears, looking down at the boy three years younger than him. “we can’t, tommy.” his voice was wavering, his chest heaving with panting breaths. “you heard techno, we need to find dad.” looking over the empire he used to protect, wilbur fought the urge to scream. houses were being set aflame, the smoke creating a cloud. the screams made his ears ring.

wilbur heaved a breath, and pulled tommy into the forest.

they couldn’t stay.

the forest was dark and thick, brandles scratching the unprotected skin of their legs and arms. wilbur didn’t dare let go of tommy, always keeping a tight grip on his hand. tommy didn’t seem to be arguing, instead holding his hand as tight as he could, keeping himself as close to wilbur as possible. phil had warned them about the forests surrounding their empire. though protected from the snow, it was damp and dark. rumours were that the forest was inhabited by monsters, and phil didn’t argue when one of his sons asked him.

tommy had grown a fear of the forest when he was younger, always avoiding the outskirts of the town, in fear of getting too close. sometimes techno would joke and say the monsters would hunt him down if he entered the forest. phil would always smack techno round the back of the head gently, scolding him for scaring his little brother. 

wilbur had found the rumours of the forest amusing when he was away from it, but now he was inside of it with nothing but his own fists to protect him and his little brother, he was terrified.

“wilbur,” tommy’s voice was a whisper, but it still made wilbur flinch, breath catching in his breath for a short moment, “how long will we be in this forest for?”

the elder boy looked around them, seeing nothing but darkness and trees. looking down to tommy, wilbur forced a genuine smile onto his face, “only an hour, toms, then we’ll be in the plainlands.”

that promised hour in the wild turned to a day, as they stood upon a hill that overlooked the empire. everything was either on fire or in a bundle of ashes and stone that still held its structure. wilbur could see bodies, bodies of his people that died hoping him and his family would swoop in and save them. but they died, alone and scared. wilbur told tommy not to look, and the youngest didn’t, instead making a flower crown with his back to the place he used to live.

wilbur didn’t know what to do. he just barely knew how to take care of himself in the wild, but he had no idea how to take care of them both. he didn’t know where to go next. but he couldn’t let tommy know. closing his eyes tightly, wilbur turned, reaching a hand down to tommy. “let’s go, we have to keep moving if we want to find where they took dad.” 

placing his crown on his side, tommy took wilbur’s hand and stood, bruising off his jeans. “where are we going?” 

with a weak laugh, wilbur shrugged. “wherever feels right, toms.”

he didn’t know where was right. it took two days to decide they needed to find a village, and an extra day to find it. and that day was the worst, driving wilbur insane. every place that he was sure would hold a forest turned out to be empty. food was rare, and tommy had a huge appetite. wilbur was starving, hiding it behind laughter when tommy took half his steak. wilbur didn’t mind though, seeing tommy grin and spin among the grass made it worth it.

even when he was laughing, wilbur was worried. about so many things. about techno and phil, mainly. he didn’t know where or why they’d been taken. they could be dead, and he would probably never found out for sure, he would should assume it after never finding them. the men had sid they wanted them for money, meaning they’d be killed, their hybrid features would be removed, or they’d be sold of to some fucking weirdo. the second thing he was worried about was him and tommy. they were lost, wandering until they hopefully found something before they died from the mobs, hypothermia or starvation. tommy was fifteen, he shouldn’t be in this situation.

it would have been so much easier if phil was there.

he missed his dad. he missed his brother. he missed his home.

finding a village was a huge weight off his shoulder. he had never felt so suddenly relieved and relaxed. he grabbed tommy by the hand, pointed to the village with a wide grin, and began pulling him towards it.

even then, wilbur still don't fully know why he had wanted to find a village, but he was sure phil had told him that when he was younger. the village had welcomed them in with a free home until wilbur found a job, which he did in two. a farmer, while tommy helped the locals with basic tasks like deliveries. but wilbur couldn't stop thinking about his family. it’d been a week since they ran, and they still had no clues as to where their dad could be, or where techno was. it scared him. so bad. all wilbur wanted was for his family to be together again, to be able to say goodnight to techno with a hug, and to wake up in the mornings to tommy screaming that phil had made pancakes. he thought it was so difficult back them to have to wake up early, go to school get trained every other day, on top of being a full prince, but now he begged for that life back. it was so much simpler and so much easier than the situation he was in now.

the image of the empire burning to the ground replayed in his mind every time he slept. the sounds of the screams sounded like the wind now. he heard his people begging in the way the wind ran through the pipes. he saw the fires that burnt down the empire in the campfires people laughed around when night fell upon them. he couldn’t escape the image of the place he used to rule, being demolished before him.

he wanted revenge. he wanted his family back.

the day he got his first information was the same day he had got his job. a man had stumbled into the village, covered in blood and bruises. it had caught the attention of everyone, as he yelled for help, clutching his arm to his chest. wilbur had recognised him instantly as the man who had grabbed techno and stuffed him into a van. while the villagers gasped and rushed to help him, wilbur grabbed him by the collar, eyes burning with a flickering flame.

he recognised wilbur, too. the way his face dropped in terror made wilbur grin. he knew he had fucked up, and that brought him so much joy. “where are they?” wilbur’s face fell dark and stoic, lifting the man off the floor slightly as his grip on his collar tightened. it was caught in his fist. he didn’t care about the mutters from the villagers. when the man only stumbled only his words, wilbur rose a brow. “where the fuck is my family? you’re going to tell me, or you’re going to regret ever touching them.”

seeing the axe wilbur had attached to the belt on his hip, he gasped out his words.” i-i don't know, man! they took the king to- to the group’s prison center about fifty miles south of the empire. they’re planning to cut his wings and sell them.” he got more frightened when the anger in wilbur;s eyes doubled at the new information. and he began begging, looking frantic and afraid, kicking his legs violently. just like techno had done when he grabbed him just a week prior. “and the prince has already been sold off. i don't know where. i’m sorry, man. please don’t hurt me, i have a family!”

wilbur’s face fell flat, challenging the man in front of him. he felt no remorse. he wanted his family back, and he didn’t care about how much blood he had to spill to do that. if it meant going against a full army, wilbur would do it. “so did i, until you and your friends fucking took them from me.” he seethed, pulling the man closer to him, glaring into his eyes. for a minute, he listened to the man cry and beg, it sounded like music to his ears. until he released his collar, watching him fall to the floor in a bundle, protecting himself. “you’re fucking scum. your friends are going to fucking regret what they did.” he stepped away from the crying man, clenching his jaw. wilbur didn’t want to hurt anyone, not in front of this crowd.

rolling his neck, wilbur pushed his way through the crowd as he left, eyes hard. he needed a map, one that covered more than seventy miles of land. because he needed to find this prison center, before phil got hurt.


End file.
